Transmission Fluid Temp

[ticker]

Last week I installed a Transmission cooler. In the instructions it said to feel the hoses (intake/outtake)once the transmission was warmed up to see if they were hot. I did and they are both hot. my unscientific finger method tells me that they feel about the same. Shouldn't one be cooler than the other? Does it have something to do with the car coming to a stop and therefore no air flow to cool the fluid. I don't want this attempt at saving the transmission to be the cause of its demise.

thanks

ticker

[Cuong Nguyen]

I don't think it should even matter, in my honest opinion.

[88pathoffroad]

The fluid flows through the cooler fast enough to feel hot on both lines regardless. Trans fluid is highly pressurized. Tranny coolers don't provide a huge drop in temp, just enough to keep it within the realm of reason. Without the cooler at all you really do run the risk of overheating it though, so keep it on!

[ticker]

Thanks - I wasn't sure how exactly it was supposed to work. This makes me feel a little better.

Keep on keepin' on.

 

[Trainman]

For those of us who live in colder climes, just beware that a trannie can run too cold. Happened to me this winter.

 

The Nissan tech told me that the pump ends up essentially aerating the fluid, thereby not allowing it to flow properly when the fluid is too cold (ie thick). The code generated is low pressure (but does not trip the SES light).

 

He recommended putting the stock cooler in line with the auxiliary. Flow would go like this: trannie>stock cooler>aux cooler>trannie.

 

Did this to mine and the trannie works way better than even before the aux cooler was in. Winter front helps too.

[88pathoffroad]

That's fine for the newer models that don't have clogging problem, but the older ones die cause the stock cooler clogs up and chokes the fluid flow off. In the case of a 87-95, you'd just want a single large-capacity cooler regardless of temps. A block heater should probably be used for quick warm-up in really cold places.

 

There's also something to be said for letting the whole system warm up before driving it in extreme cold. I cringe every time I see a woman jump into a cold car, turn the key and drive immediately off...

[SC88Pathy]

I always wait at least 30 seconds after starting up before going anywhere, unless the pathy has only been parked for a short time. With so many miles on the pathy you gotta try and keep wear to a minimum.

[ticker]

As far as capacity goes, I did't get the biggest cooler, because i wanted to be able to mount it forward of the radiator etc.. It is rated for 18,000gvw which seemed pretty good. After I got it and looked at the instructions the company recommended that id you were running it as a replacement, stand alone cooler t should be 2-3 times the size. Pathys weigh about 5600gvw so size wise it should be OK, right?

 

BTW after I hooked up the new one let the old cooler drain the little bit of fluid that drained out was pretty nasty, dirty, almost black w/ particulate . The fluid on the dipstick looks/ smells fine, but man i have to assume that that is the stuff that clogs the stock cooler.

 

It always amazes me to see people start a car and put it into gear in one motion. yikes

Edited April 17, 2006 by ticker